Thank you!

Lincoln got a toy phone from his cousins Hunter and Sawyer for his birthday. He plays with it every day.  Thanks so much...and to Aunt Carrie and Uncle Joe as well! We couldn't convince him to open any other presents for about 15 minutes after opening this one!

Second Birthday and Counting

 

Lincoln at 23/24 months

Lincoln will be two in a few days! During the last couple of weeks I have written down some of the things about him that I don't want to forget. He has been doing so many cute things and we still love getting to know him more and more. Beware, the list is long...

• One day he recently started putting his napkin on his lap, without being asked! Now he does it every day!
• We bought another car recently. Everytime we get in it he growls "Honda, honda, honda." "New car" which really sounds like "nutah" to us.
• Can come up with a few things he is thankful for in prayer (cookies, mom, dad, temple, etc)
• Loves Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star..."teendle, "teendle" and makes cute actions
• Fills in the words for many primary songs (I Love to See the Temple, I Am Like A Star, I am a Child of God
• Asks to cuddle 1-2 times each day with me on our bed before he naps or before his night time (however this usually turns into a laughing, crawling over mom fest)
• Talks and counts to himself before he falls asleep at bedtime
• "_____ in there" a common phrase lately
• Particular about which songs we sing to him. Sometimes he protests!
• Fills in ABC's but lately often refuses to sing (this one he got from me)
• Asks every few days for a "tail" (ponytail). Because he's got short hair, it is the tiniest little spout on the top of his head. It only lasts a few minutes, but he likes it a lot.
• If we say "hey cutie" or "hi sweetie" he says "Lincoln."
• Helps at home by putting trash in the garbage and his used sippy cups in the sink. Likes to carry mom's purse too.
• Loves everything Elmo!!!
• Get's compliments on his blue eyes and blonde hair in public regularly
• Very picky eater..........but this last week he did TRY Lucky Charms and potatoes (both of which caused him to vomit)
• Loves milk, chocolate milk, cheese, tortillas, crackers, most cereals, grapes, pears
• Likes to wear his jacket, even when he doesn't need it.
• Very active and wiggly
• Sleeps with his three stuffed animals (Elmo, Doggie, and Nibley (bear). He pretends to feed them, and likes them swaddled in a blanket to pretend they are his babies.
• Asks for the "special tie" after his baths. (Towel wrapped around him so he is hands free and it stays put.)
• Often is a hot dog at night (Kindt tradition). We wrap/swaddle his blanket around him and then we put silly toppings on him like salt, pepper, syrup, and of course the traditional ketchup, relish, etc.
• When Grandpa (papa) and Grandma Kindt (mema) and Uncle Peter come to visit he seems to have to know their whereabouts at all times.
• Sleeps 8:30/9:00 pm to 6:30/7:00 AM and naps for 1.5/2 hours in the early afternoon. 
• We are so lucky...he goes to bed without any crying or fighting
• He has always been a mama's boy
• Likes paints, crayons, pencils, markers (and is still learning to ONLY draw on paper) :)
• Asks for a "wipe" when he cries and needs to wipe his tears and runny nose
• Very curious about how things work, fit, etc. Seems to have an engineering mind like his dad!
• It took a few weeks at the beginning of the summer, but now he loves swimming and going down very big slides all by himself
• Runs more often than walks
• Can kick a ball pretty well
• When he throws a ball, it usually goes straight up and then down:)
• Yesterday started saying a correct /r/ sound!!! He's not even two!!! Pear, chair, fire, and pepper were words he said correctly. Atta boy. Being a speech-language pathologist, I of course hope my kids have perfect speech. Ha ha ha....here are a few of the cute ways he says some words.
• "Totit mut" ----chocolate milk
• "day doo" -----thank you
• "tup" or "pup"--cup
• "fee fis"--------feed fish
• "tut"-----------truck
• "seeping"------sleeping
• "Ingkin"-------Lincoln
• He's putting longer strings of words together.....here are just a few examples of the things he is saying...
• "This one key in there"
• "Dada's shoes"
• "Raining outside"
• "Juice in there"
• "No music"
• Sometimes when he's frustrated at dinner he will throw his food or sippy cup (although it is getting better)  or climb on the table. 
• Has a hard time listening to us when he is supposed to get in the car....he runs in the opposite direction (we're working hard on that too) I'm considering bribery at this point. 
• He's so cute and we love him so much that we'll take it all!

We are so blessed to have him as a part of our family! Love you sweetie. You will be such a great big brother in just a few more weeks!

Labor Day Weekend

For Labor Day weekend, my parents and little brother came to visit!!! We had a great time. We did lots of fun things such as:

Hamburgers at the Lion's Tap
Minnesota State Fair
Breakfast at the Original Pancake House----amazing
Paddleboarding and Swimming at Bryant Lake

 Me and my little buddy waiting for Grandma, Grandpa, and Peter to come.


 We went to the Minnesota State Fair, which I am told is the first or second largest in the nation. We really enjoyed it, but I think we were all exhausted by the end of the day and our feet hurt! We had the best food there too. The most memorable food we had, at least for me, was the deep fried candy bars on a stick! We had Snickers, Reese's Peanut Butter cups, and Milky Way bars. It actually was sooooooo good but Vance and I swear it may be years before we ever eat them again.

 Here is my dad with Lincoln, waiting in line to go down the big kiddie slide.

 Lincoln started crying as soon as they were about to go down, probably because he saw how far it was to the bottom! It was nice of my dad to do this with him.

Candid picture of Vance with Lincoln as we were walking the streets at the fair.

 We were only half way up this sloped street and it was amazing how many people we could see behind  us. Imagine twice this for the view at the top of the hill...and this is only one street at the fair!

My dad reading a book with Lincoln. I love to see them bonding.

On Sunday evening we took a walk to Starring Lake. Here is a picture of everyone, except me, on the dock.

Lincoln, Vance, and I on the dock. It was a nice night. 

 On the third day, after our breakfast at the Original Pancake House, and then a very much needed nap for Lincoln, we went to Bryant Lake...which is only about a 10 minutes from our home. I love that we have about 4 huge lakes that are within a 15 minute drive from our house! Here is Peter with Lincoln, and my mom on the right in the background. Lincoln was actually saying "cheese" but of course it is still so hard to get a real smile and for kids to look at the camera!! Oh well, I thought it was cute how Peter was laughing in the picture. At the lake the boys played with the football, and we all played in the sand and swam in the water. Then we all went paddleboarding (standing on a huge surfboard with a paddle) and it was a BLAST. Vance and I did this at this particular lake in July, and we really wanted them to be able to try to do it. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of them on the paddleboard.

We had a great, great activity packed weekend. It was so kind of my parents and little brother to come visit us. We love to share this area is and of course see our family.

Our Mississippi Cruise

Last month at the end of an employee appreciation week, Vance's work hosted a cruise down the Mississippi River. We had a blast. It was a 2 story boat that had a front and rear deck on both levels. We got two free drink tickets per person (sodas for us!) . There was a little bit of dancing, dinner, raffle prize giveaways, and more. We hope they host it again next year!

Above is Vance right before our fancy boat cruise. I love this man!!!

Here we are on the lower deck patio outside the boat. I also enjoyed the cruise because I got to meet more of Vance's coworkers. I was really impressed with how friendly they were and that they were such a highly educated group of people he works with. We loved this night!!!!